Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/52

42 ORNITHOLOGY associated under the name Picarix seems likely enough, and the first two " Suborders" are probably natural groups, though possibly groups of different value. In regard to the rest comment is for the present deferred. The Psittaci, Stnijfs, and Accipitres, containing respectively the PARROTS (q.v), OWLS (?.? .), and diurnal Birds-of Prey, form the next three " Orders " the last being held to include 3 Families. Falconidx, Cuthurtidae, and SerpentariidsR, which is perhaps the best that can be done with them the difficult question as to the position of Curiama (SERIEMA, q.v.) being decided against the admission of that form to the last Family, notwithstanding its remarkable resemblance to Strpentarius (SECRETARY-BIRD, q.v.). We have then the Ster/annpodes to make the Sixth " Order," consisting of the 5 Families usually grouped together as by Brandt (supra, p. 25) and others, and these are followed naturally enough by the HERONS (vol. xi. p. 760) under the name of Heroiliones, to which the 3 Families Ardeidx, Ciconiidx (STORK, q.v.), and Pldtaleidx (SPOONBILL, q.v.) are referred; but the FLAMINGOES (vol. ix. p. 286), under Prof. Huxley s title Odmitoylosstf, form a distinct " Order." The Ninth " Order " is now erected for the Palamedeee (SCREAMER, q.v.), which precede the Anseres a group that, disen cumbered from both the last two, is eminently natural, and easily dealt with. A great break then occurs, and the new series is opened by the Eleventh " Order," Cohimbee, with 3 Families, Carpnphayidx, Columbidse, and Gourid&, " or perhaps a fourth," Didunculidee, 1 the DODOS (vol. vii. p. 321) being "held to belong to quite a separate section of the order." The Twelfth " Order " is formed by the Pterocletes, the Sand-Grouse ; and then we have the very natural group Gcdlinx ranking as the Thirteenth. The next two are the Opisthocomi and Ilemipodii for the HOACTZIN (vol. xii. p. 28) and the Turnicidx (often known as Button-Quails) respectively, to which follow as Sixteenth and Seventeenth the Fulicarix and Aledorides the former consisting of the Families Rallidx (RAIL, q.v.) and Heliornithidse., and the latter of what seems to be a very heterogeneous compound of 6 Families Aramidx, Eurypygida (SriN BITTERN, q<v.), Gruidx (CRANE, vol. vi. p. 546), Psop/mdx (TRUMPETER, 7. v.), Cariamidx (SERIEMA, q.v.), and Otididx - (BUSTARD, vol. iv. p. 578). It is con fessedly very puzzling to know how these varied types, or some of them at least, should be classed ; but the need for the establishment of this group, and especially the insertion in it of certain forms, is not explained by the author. Then we have " Orders " Eighteen and Nineteen, the Limwolx, with 6 Families, and Gavise, consisting only of Laridie(GuL L, vol. xi. p. 274), which taken in their simplest condition do not present much difficulty. The last are followed by Tubinares, the PETRELS (q.v.), and these by Pygopodes, to which only 2 Families Colyiitbidse, (DiVER, vol. vii. p. 292) and Alcidx are allowed the GREBES (vol. xi. p. 79) being included in the former. The Impennes or PENGUINS (q.v.) form the Twenty-second, and TINAMOUS (q.v.) as Crypturi complete the Carinate Subclass. For the Ratitse only three "Orders" are allotted Apteryges, Casuarii, and Struthionea, As a whole it is impossible not to speak well of the scheme thus sketched out ; nevertheless it does seem in some parts to be open to amendment, though the task of attempting to suggest any modifications of it by way of improvement is one that the present writer approaches with reluctance and the utmost diffidence. Yet the task, it appears, must be undertaken. From the preceding 1 In the eighth edition of the List of Vertebratrd Animals in the Zoological Gardens, which, being published in 1883, may be taken as expressing Mr Sclater s latest views, the first two Families only are recognized, the last two being placed under Colvmbidse. 2 Wrongly spelt Otidiv. pages, recounting the efforts of many system-makers good, bad, and indifferent it will have been seen what a very great number and variety of characters need to be had in remembrance while planning any scheme that will at all adequately represent the results of the knowledge hitherto attained, and the best lesson to be learnt from them is that our present knowledge goes but a very little way in comparison with what we, or our successors, may hope to reach in years to come. Still we may feel pretty confident that we are on the right track, and, moreover, that here and there we can plant our feet on firm ground, however uncertain, not to say treacherous, may be the spaces that intervene. Now that geographical exploration has left so small a portion of the earth s surface unvisited, we cannot reasonably look for the encountering of new forms of ornithic life that, by revealing hitherto unknown stepping stones, will quicken our course or effectively point out our path. Indeed, as a matter of fact, the two most important and singular types of existing Birds Balaeniceps and Rhinochetns that in later years have rewarded the exertions of travelling naturalists, have proved rather sources of perplexity than founts of inspiration. Should fortune favour ornithologists in the discovery of fossil remains, they will unquestionably form the surest guide to our faltering steps ; but experience forbids us to expect much aid from this quarter, however warmly we may wish for it, and the pleasure of any discovery of the kind would be enhanced equally by its rarity as by its intrinsic worth. However, it is now a well accepted maxim in zoology that the mature forms of the past are repeated in the immature forms of the present, and that, where Palaeontology fails to instruct us, Embryology may be trusted to no small extent to supply the deficiency. Unhappily the embryology of Birds has been as yet very insufficiently studied. We have indeed embryological memoirs of a value that can scarcely be rated too highly, but almost all are of a monographic character. They are only oases in a desert of ignorance, and a really connected and continuous series of investiga tions, such as the many morphological laboratories, now established in various countries, would easily render possible, has yet to be instituted. No methodical attempt at this kind of work seems to have been made for nearly half a century, and, with the advantage of modern appliances, no one can justifiably doubt the success of a renewal of such an attempt any more than he can possibly foresee the precise nature of the revelations that would come of it. The various schemes for classifying Birds set forth by the authors of general text-books of Zoology do not call for any particular review here, as almost without exception they are so drawn up as to be rather of the nature of a compromise than of a harmony. The best and most notable is perhaps that by Prof. CARVS in 18(!8 (Handluch dcr Zoologie, i. pp. 191-368) ; but it is of course now antiquated. The worst scheme is one of the most recent, that by Prof. CI.AUS in 1882 (Grundzilye dcr Zooloyic, ii. pp. 318-388). Of most other similar text-books that have come under the writer s notice, especially those issued in the United Kingdom, the less said the better. It is unfortunate that neither Prof. Gegenbaur nor the late Prof. F. M. Balfour should have turned their attention to this matter ; but an improvement may be expected from Dr Gadow, who is engaged in completing the ornithological portion of Bronn s Thicrreieh, so long left unfinished. Birds are animals so similar to Reptiles in all the most Relatio: essential features of their organization that they may be of Rini! said to be merely an extremely modified and aberrant t ?j C * Reptilian type. These are almost the very words of Prof. Huxley twenty years ago, 3 and there are now but few zoologists to dissent from his statement, which by another man of science has been expressed in a phrase even more 3 Lectures on the Elements of Comparative Anatomy, p. 69; see also Carus, Handbuch der Zo<~>lo<jie.. i. p. 192.